"Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. said state regulators had approved the easing of certain requirements, boosting the capital level of its life-insurance units by nearly $1 billion, or about 20%, while Lincoln National Corp. won approval for about $300 million in relief. .. Hartford disclosed the approval in a regulatory filing that also confirmed that recent ratings downgrades make the company ineligible to participate in a program under which the government serves as a backstop to U.S. issuers of commercial paper. ... One chunk of relief for Hartford is tied to the calculation of reserves to back the minimum-return guarantees to variable annuities. The market downdraft has ratched up the liability for these guarantees. ... The other relief relates to the accounting for deferred tax assets. .... Lincoln similarly sought to book more of these as assets, and said its regulators in Indiana have given approval", Leslie Scism at the WSJ, 13 February 2009.
Fun with numbers! Imagine, CPAs have state regulators.
1 comment:
2 words.
Regulatory arbitrage.
A well honed game.
Post a Comment